Hola and Happy Easter to all! We’ll spend the afternoon decorating eggs and helping our daughter during her first-ever egg hunt, but more than anything, we’ll be spending a lot of time en familia and we hope you will too!

But first, our weekly round up of links you might be interested in checking out:

1. Raising a Child in Two Worlds – My child doesn’t look quite like me (Caucasian) or her father (Colombian); she’s something new for both families. When I was pregnant, the thought of having an “exotic” looking child based on our combined genetics – Jose’s inky black hair, dark eyes, and round face coupled with my waspy, delicate looks and tiny build – hadn’t really occurred to me. Then I gave birth to our daughter, Nina, and race and culture became, for the first time, an “issue.” I just read this and I’m still trying to digest it, so I don’t really have much to say about this except: you NEED to read it. And, expect a post about this article at a later date…

2. Learning Two Languages – Raising multilingual children offers opportunities as well as unique challenges. Parents may ask a range of questions: Should they speak to their child in their native language? How will that affect their child’s ability to learn English? If they speak to their child in English, will he lose his native language? And what happens when parents speak to their child in two languages? Although here at SpanglishBaby we’ve covered this topic at length, it never hurts to read more of the same. Plus, PBS always does it right.

4. Fluent in Spanglish – Have you ever made the mistake of saying a few phrases in Spanish, only to have the other person speak for the next 45 minutes in the mother tongue, while you have little clue as to what they are saying because it is too fast, and you don’t know how to stop them? I laughed, even though I can’t identify with the author, and you probably will too!

5. Latino USA with María Hinojosa – Latino USA is committed to informing Americans about the people who are increasingly becoming their neighbors, friends, and co-workers. From the outset, Latino USA has understood the complexity of the Latino community and has been driven to break down the notion that there is a monolithic Latino point-of-view. The program has not shied away from reporting on problems and divisions within Latino communities. Hosted by María Hinojosa, whom I truly respect not only as a Latina, but as a fellow journalist, Latino USA has been around for about 15 years. This is their website, which for the last year has been working toward increasing the dialogue about what the transformation of the USA actually means for all of us. If you’ve never heard her, it’s time to check her out!

6. Last, but not least: We love GIVEAWAYS and we love supporting a great cause. Click here for a chance to win one Jumbo pack of Pampers diapers or pants + four “One Pack = One Vaccine” Pampers/Unicef campaign onesies. Deadline is tonight at midnight EST.

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I am so perturbed by the first link that was posted (the ny times article) that I don’t even know how to express myself.

I just can’t believe that someone would write such a blatantly racist article, about how short her husband is, how “rough” the Spanish is, a reminder that her daughter is also have white “thank you very much”, etc. I’m absolutely shocked that she is worried about her daughter losing her “white privilege” by being a multi-racial child.

Lately I’ve been exploring my identity as a bilingual Spanish learner who was raised by a racist mother, and some of the severe psychological damage that it has caused me throughout my life. It’s taken me until just recently to sort all of these identity issues out. I am almost positive that the child of the author is going to sooner or later pick up on her mothers disdain for her father’s language and culture, and the child will internalize it in a negative way.

Will she grow up in conflict, thinking that there is something wrong with her? Will she grow up hating herself and her culture? Or, will she grow up recognizing her mother for who she is and feel a sense of anguish that her mother disdains a piece of her? I pretty much feel very sorry for the child.

I am a white woman who has a Latino significant other-we have been in the same situations in Los Angeles where we have been pulled over by the police because he has a bald head and tattoos. Am I going to lament that my poor half-Latino children might be subjected to racism, while possibly losing their status as half-white children? No, I am going to raise them to be proud of who they are and recognize that other people have a problem, not them.

What a great comment! You’ve voiced my sentiments in a beautiful way. I’m still in shock that Motherlode and the NYTs would post such an article. I encourage all to leave a comment in the post letting them know how racist this is and that we are appalled by it. That is, if you felt that way when reading it.
We’ll be talking more about it this week, for sure.

Alicia Maher was born in El Salvador and resides in Los Angeles CA since 1986. She learned to cook at a young age authentic Salvadoran food from her grandmother, great aunts, aunts and her Salvadoran friends. For almost thirty years Alicia has passionately carried and shared her country and ancestors’ culinary traditions with family and friends. In her cookbook Delicious El Salvador: 75 Authentic Recipes for Traditional Salvadoran Cooking, she sets out to preserve and teach El Salvador’s home cooking history, flavors and dishes to future generations. She is also the former owner of two full service bakeries in the Los Angeles area, and has taught private cooking classes for the last five years. Before moving to Southern California, Alicia lived in Israel and Washington, D.C. She graduated from UCLA in 1992 with a BA in Art History. Alicia has been married to Joseph since 1988; they are the parents of three sons. Delicious El Salvador: 75 Authentic Recipes for Traditional Salvadoran Cooking is her first book.